⚠ The Museum Prinsenhof Delft is temporarily closed for renovation and refurbishment.
It is expected to reopen in 2027
The wonderful Prinsenhof Museum is dedicated to William of Orange who’s considered to be the father of the modern Netherlands. Hear about William of Orange during my Walking Tour of Delft.
One could say the founding father of the Netherlands was William of Orange (Willem van Oranje). He played an important role in freeing the Netherlands from the brutal reign of King Felipe the 2nd of Spain who sent his General Alva to suppress the rise of Protestantism and ensure that Catholicism remained the sole religion.
“Het Prinsenhof” in Delft was made available to William of Orange so he would be safe within the city walls of Delft. That safety turned out to just be relative as he was assassinated by a man called Balthasar Gerards. While descending the stairs to have dinner Balthasar managed to bypass security and shot William of Orange twice.
William died instantly although for a long time it was believed that his dying words were “God have mercy with me and this poor people”.
Now, the Monastery of Saint Agatha is a museum, dedicated to the life and death of William of Orange and the history of the city of Delft. It’s full of stories, paintings, artifacts and the actual bullet holes in the wall, the silent witnesses of his assassination.
The multilingual audio guide adds another layer of information and story telling.
